20mph speed limit for cyclists being discussed
The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has discussed the potential introduction of a 20mph speed limit for cyclists in Britain.
Shapps vowed to introduce a ‘Death by Dangerous Cycling’ law after several major incidents that meant that the guilty cyclist received a much shorter sentence in comparison to someone behind the wheel of a car.
According to the Transport Secretary, the goal is to stop certain dangerous driving behaviours perpetrated by cyclists on roads across the country.
However, his proposals doesn’t stop there, as there have also been discussions about introducing number plates and insurance for cyclists under plans for the new law.
This would mean cyclists could receive licence penalty points and fines for breaking speed limits, running red lights, and other illegal manoeuvres., acting as a real deterrent to reckless behaviour from some cyclists that cause accidents, leading to more appropriate punishments.
Shapps told the Daily Mail: “Somewhere where cyclists are actually not breaking the law is when they speed, and that cannot be right, so I absolutely propose extending speed limit restrictions to cyclists. Particularly where you’ve got 20mph limits on increasing numbers of roads, cyclists can easily exceed those, so I want to make speed limits apply to cyclists. That obviously does then lead you into the question of: ‘Well, how are you going to recognise the cyclist? Do you need registration plates and insurance? And that sort of thing. So, I am proposing there should be a review of insurance and how you actually track cyclists who do break the laws.”
